As of the end of 2010, German clients had an average portfolio of about EUR8,650 each in investment funds, 8.9% more than the average of EUR7.946 recorded at the end of 2009 (see Newsmanagers of 29 June 2010). Between the end of 2000 and the end of 2010, the average portfolio of investment fund shares grew by 67.8%.However, German investors are far behind those in other countries. As of the end of December, the biggest investors were the Americans, with an average of EUR29.081, 5.4% more than as of 31 December 2010. The increase over the end of 2009 is 13.6%. French investors are in second place, with EUR19,427, down 4.4% compared with the end of 2010, and up 49.1% in ten years.Swedish, British and Austrian investors are also ahead of the Germans, with EUR17,657 (up 89.5% in ten years), EUR11,000 (+57.6%), and EUR10,197 (-0.7%).
Kerstin Behnke, managing director and head of Northern Europe, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg at Gartmore Investment Services GmbH, will join Fidelity Investment Services GmbH on 20 June as head of distribution for Fidelity International for Germany. She will be responsible for banking clients, savings banks, IFAs, insurers and wealth managers.Christian Wrede, CEO of Fidelity International for Germany and managing director for Central Europe, points out that for Fidelity, Germany is a core market with major potential.
WestLB Mellon Asset Management (WMAM, EUR25.5bn in assets) has announced that since the beginning of May, Holger Sandte has become chief economist for the asset management boutique, which is a 50/50 joint venture of WestLB and BNY Mellon. It is a newly-created position.Since 2006, Sandte had been head of the economic research department at WestLB.
The largest German pension fund, Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), which manages about EUR54bn in assets, claims that there can be no such thing as a general approach to SRI investment, Citywire Global reports.Each asset class has distinctive traits, and responsible investment strategies need to be adapted to each of them. In April this year, the pension fund announced plans to roll out SRI strategies for its entire portfolio, and also signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).The head of asset management for the pension fund, André Heimrich, has announced that the group has opted for an engagement strategy, and adds that it is not possible to have a one-size-fits-all approach in this area. “It is impossible to have a general SRI approach for all asset classes,” says Heimrich. “A differentiated approach is necessary, since asset classes are very different from one another. For example, in fixed income, it is not possible to have direct engagement. You are required to take a different approach. We have therefore defined our own vision of the best possible approach for each asset class,” Heimrich says.This goes for bond investments as well, which represent about 65% of the total portfolio, and for which the pension fund uses SRI ratings from the oekom research agency to analyse each of its bond investments on the basis of criteria such as transparency.
A spokesperson for LGT Bank has confirmed to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the collapse of its proposed acquisition of BHF-Bank from Deutsche Bank (see Newsmanagers of 19 April) will prevent it from achieving its strategic objectives for private banking in Germany. The firm will therefore sell off wealth management in the country (135 employees in seven locations), but will retain its institutional asset management activities there.
The US State Street group on 16 May announced the appointment of Maria Cantillon as global head of sales for the Alternative Investment Solutions unit, dedicated to alternative investments. Cantillon will be based in London, and will report to Scott Fitzgerald, head of sales for the Global Services America unit at State Street. Cantillon was previously head of service activities dedicated to alternative investment managers and a member of the executive board at BNP Paribas Securities Services in London. Cantillon will oversee a team of 15 people, serving North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. She replaces Scott Fitzgerald, who has assumed new responsibilities since the end of last year. As of 31 March 2011, alternative assets under administration in the Alternative Investment Solutions arm of State Street totalled nearly USD770bn.
The British management firm Apollo Multi Asset Management will launch two new funds in early June, the IFDS Apollo Multi Asset Defensive and the IFDS Apollo Multi Asset Adventurous, Investment Week reports. The two funds will be structured as Non-UCITS Retail Schemes (NURS), which will be able to invest in ETFs, structured products, real estate, and directly, as well as in hedge funds.
The Spanish financial services firm Renta 4, which in February decided to acquire the Banco Alicantino de Comercio (see Newsmanagers of 9 February), on 31 March had record assets under custody and management of EUR5.7bn, 13.1% more than one year previously. Pre-tax profits were up 5.8% in first quarter compared with January-March 2010, at EUR2.9m.The firm has also announced the appointment of Antonio Fernández Vera, who remains president of Renta 4 Pensiones, a position he has held since March 2007, as president of the asset management affiliate Renta 4 Gestora.
The Spanish affiliate of RBC Dexia Investor Services, RBC Dexia Activos, has won an automated fund administration mandate for 46 investment funds from Amundi Iberia (EUR750m). Under the contract, Amundi will outsource administration of its products, while retaining complete control of the process. By the terms of the agreement, RBC Dexia has taken a transfer of three employees from Amundi Iberia.
On 16 May, NYSE-Euronext announced that it has admitted the Irish ETF HSBC SP BRIC 40 ETF (IE00B5YLK706) from HSBC, which replicates the SP BRIC 40 index, and which charges fees of 0.60%, to trading on its Paris ETF platform.NYSE Euronext now lists 556 ETFs, replicating over 360 indices, 648 times. Since the beginning of the year, the stock market company added 107 listings of 81 ETFs on its European platforms.
Mutual Fund Wire reports that First Trust Advisors has launched its first ETF allowing investors access to the automotive industry. The First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto Index Fund, which has been available on the Nasdaq since 10 May, tracks the performance of 30 companies active in the automotive sector.
Le quotidien indique que la société de private equity en partie détenue par la famille suédoise Wallenberg entend lever 4,25 milliards d’euros pour un fonds européen. Il s’agirait d’une des pus importantes opérations depuis l’émergence de la crise. Un premier bouclage pourrait avoir lieu d’ici le mois de juillet, croit savoir le quotidien citant plusieurs sources proches. EQT Partners offrirait une ristourne de 10% sur sa commission de gestion de 1,5% des encours gérés au bénéfice des investisseurs qui rejoindront le fonds avant ce premier closing. Un signe clair selon le quotidien de la victoire d’investisseurs tels les fonds de pension ayant milité pour une baisse des frais auprès des sociétés de private equity.
Christine Lagarde a estimé à l’issue de la réunion des ministres des finances que «la Grèce doit accélérer la mise en œuvre» de son programme de privatisations.
Les Etats-Unis ont attiré en mars des flux de capitaux nets à long terme de 24 milliards de dollars, après 27,2 milliards (révisé) en février, d’après le département américain du Trésor. En incluant les titres à court terme, les flux nets ont augmenté à 116 milliards de dollars, contre un chiffre révisé en baisse à 95,6 milliards le mois précédent.
Le fonds de capital investissement américain TA Associates pourrait signer dans les prochains jours, voire dès vendredi, son entrée au capital de DNCA Finance, selon des sources proches. Banca Leonardo, qui détient aujourd’hui environ 70% du capital de la société de gestion française, conservera une participation minoritaire. Jean-Charles Mériaux et Joseph Chatel, respectivement directeur de la gestion et président, resteront les deuxième et troisième actionnaires (L’Agefi Quotidien du 7 avril). La transaction valorise la société entre 300 et 400 millions d’euros.
La zone euro a enregistré en mars un excédent commercial supérieur aux attentes alors que le déficit du mois de février a été revu à trois milliards d’euros contre -1,5 milliard en première estimation, selon des données publiées lundi par Eurostat. L’excédent est ressorti à 2,8 milliards d’euros en mars alors que le consensus était de +1,5 milliard.
La Chine doit de nouveau augmenter ses taux d’intérêt pour contenir une inflation obstinément élevée, mais cela ne devrait pas contrarier outre mesure l'élan de son économie, a déclaré Li Daokui, membre du comité de politique monétaire de la banque centrale. L’inflation cette année sera contenue sous la barre des 5% mais sera légèrement supérieure à l’objectif annuel de 4% visé par la banque centrale, a prédit le conseiller. «Nous devons nous préparer à une inflation relativement forte ces dix prochaines années», a-t-il ajouté.
Les prix à la consommation dans la zone euro ont augmenté de 0,6% en avril, ce qui porte leur hausse sur un an à 2,8%, a annoncé Eurostat, l’office de statistiques de l’Union européenne. L’inflation annuelle est une nouvelle fois largement supérieure à l’objectif d’une hausse des prix à la consommation légèrement inférieure à 2% sur un an fixé par la Banque centrale européenne (BCE).
Le commissaire européen à la concurrence Joaquin Almunia a annoncé lundi des enquêtes sur les fournisseurs de données financières, pour évaluer si ces derniers tirent indument profit d’un accès privilégié à l’information. «J’entends aussi débattre du champ légitime des droits de propriété intellectuelle sur ces données», a précisé le commissaire, qui intervenait à Londres. Bruxelles a engagé récemment des enquêtes sur le marché des swaps visant des banques ainsi que Markit et ICE Clear Europe. Les services de la concurrence ont par ailleurs annoncé ce matin un accord avec S&P sur la diffusion, en Europe, des numéros d’identifiants (ISIN) attribués aux valeurs mobilières aux Etats-Unis. L’agence de notation a accepté de revoir ses tarifs.
Une restructuration de la dette de la Grèce n’est pas une piste qui est à l'étude, a déclaré lundi le porte-parole de la Commission européenne. Par ailleurs, il a également affirmé que l’arrestation de Dominique Strauss-Kahn n’affectera «ni les décisions qui sont déjà prises ni les programmes en cours d’exécution». Amadeu Altafaj a ajouté que le FMI «restait l’institution solide qu’elle a toujours été et qu’il y aurait une pleine et entière continuité».